Let's forego the chronology in favor of a celebration of all the stays at once.
Darryl discovered Kalani. The first time we traveled from Kona and the Kohala coast to Hilo and Volcanoes National Park, as well as Zen Buddhist monk Su Nim's house near Hawi. The second time, Starr came with us to celebrate her 50th birthday in the home of Pele and on the peak of Mauna Kea. The third visit brought Darryl to the Big Island for 7 weeks of spiritual awakening, kindred spirits, and confrontation with death itself. Our near drowning experience provided us both with a baptism and rebirthing at the base of the waterfall we had listened to all night in our pagoda at friend Jane's Kulaniapia.
Kalani was the heart of our experience, especially Darryl's. Hiking to the flow of fire from Pele at dawn, swimming the black sand beach of the Waipio Valley, interacting with the world of people inhabiting Kalani was a religious epiphany. No exaggeration.
Kalani was the heart of our experience, especially Darryl's. Hiking to the flow of fire from Pele at dawn, swimming the black sand beach of the Waipio Valley, interacting with the world of people inhabiting Kalani was a religious epiphany. No exaggeration.
Darryl also returned for a three month volunteer experience. I joined him then and felt like one of the Kalani family of friends.
Our Tree House Party
Darryl's A-Frame
Before it became so restricted
View from the Peak of Mauna Kea showing the shadow of the mountainThe Sunset over Maui was phenomenal.
Our Arrival on Maui
Botanical Garden
Finally, Cathy Hall and Marc Gilbert provided decompression and a soothing, relaxing reentry into the ordinary world. We visited art museums and had the charms of Waikiki and Honolulu to help us transition back to the mainland. My last night with Cathy included a visit to Rumfire, on the beach, near the Royal Hawaiian, the club Dar had discovered on an earlier trek to Oahu.
There are countless images that remain with me in addition to the 600 or more photos we took. Images such as the Thai truck selling fantastic garlic shrimp on the north shore of Oahu, or the ancient Roman painting in the Honolulu Academy of Art of Eros riding a Dolphin, Eros looking exactly like Darryl. A few future haiku might be appropriate.
High up on Haleakala
Finally, Cathy Hall and Marc Gilbert provided decompression and a soothing, relaxing reentry into the ordinary world. We visited art museums and had the charms of Waikiki and Honolulu to help us transition back to the mainland. My last night with Cathy included a visit to Rumfire, on the beach, near the Royal Hawaiian, the club Dar had discovered on an earlier trek to Oahu.
There are countless images that remain with me in addition to the 600 or more photos we took. Images such as the Thai truck selling fantastic garlic shrimp on the north shore of Oahu, or the ancient Roman painting in the Honolulu Academy of Art of Eros riding a Dolphin, Eros looking exactly like Darryl. A few future haiku might be appropriate.
Our most recent stay was on three islands with Wolfgang and Sebastian:
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Zen Nights Dharma Days
Authored by:
Jack MillerZen. Sublimity. There are few words to conjure the world of Kalani Honua, a place of rhythms and life. Fortunate are the happy souls who come here, intermingle, and experience such contact with earth, air, volcanic fire, and water-- the ocean and the waterfalls, and the pools of clear healing water. People here connect to the land in a holistic way difficult to imagine on the mainland of the U.S. Everything flows in a harmony that resonates in those who live and work here.
It is easy to photograph the flowers, the pristine beaches, the steam from Kiluea, from Pele. It is easy to imagine, to recall, the joy of sitting in the swing pictured here, gazing at the ocean for whales, for the spume as they catch their breath, dolphins, black crabs scurrying over the black lava rocks. Life is exquisite here, like a rare orchid. The lizard on the sunny sill has found enlightenment.
But wait: Even more commentary and photographs of Hawaii:
Enjoy.
